Yvonne De Carlo

A vibrant, full-bodied performer with a rich voice and a lushly sensuous if somewhat odd beauty, Yvonne DeCarlo achieved stardom in the 1940s in some of the more bizarre escapism of that era. During h...
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Ballet dancer Yvonne Mounsey dies at 93

By:
WENN.com Source
Oct 04, 2012

The star passed away at her home in Los Angeles on Saturday (29Sep12) following a battle with cancer.
Mounsey was born in South Africa and began to take ballet classes at the age of seven. She later trained in London and performed with companies around the world, including the famed Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
She became a member of the New York City Ballet in 1948 and worked her way up to principal dancer, originating roles for legendary theatre producer Jerome Robbins in the The Cage, Fanfare and The Concert.
She retired from the stage in 1958 and went on to launch the Johannesburg City Ballet in her native South Africa, before returning to the U.S. in the 1960s and settling in Los Angeles, where she also founded the Westside School of Ballet and taught there for four decades.
A statement posted on the school's website reads, "It is with great sadness that Westside Ballet announces the death of Yvonne Mounsey, founder of Westside Ballet. With a ballet career encompassing more than eight decades, she touched the lives of thousands through her dancing, her choreography, her teaching, and the example she set of a life well-lived. We will miss her very much."

The classic black-and-white comedy series, starring Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo and Fred Gwynne, was taken off air in 1966 and now studio bosses are hoping to revive the show with the help of Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller.
Producers at U.S. network NBC have already ordered an hour-long pilot and the programme, reports EW.com.

The former child star, who played Eddie Munster in the 1960s TV show, is outraged by reports suggesting bosses at America's Universal studios are working on a new series based on the original programme, which starred Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo.
And Patrick is adamant a new format will not be popular with viewers.
He tells TMZ.com, "Honestly, it should be left alone. I think it shows they are desperate for content. Unless they get (U.S. comic) Brad Garrett to play Herman, it's not going to do well."

The original series, starring Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo, ran for two years between 1964 and 1966 and it spawned several films before it was revived in the 1980s for a spin-off called The Munsters Today, which ended in 1991.
Now executives at Universal are reportedly planning to bring the ghoulish group back once again, with Pan's Labyrinth director Del Toro taking a behind-the-scenes role in the project.
Bosses at TV network NBC are said to have commissioned a pilot episode, according to EW.com.

Title

Auditioned for the leading female role of the Stephen Sondheim musical, "Follies", bound for Broadway; lost the role to Alexis Smith but was engaged for a prominent supporting role; received special billing; Sondheim also wrote for her the song, "I'm Stil

DeCarlo and her mother refused an immigration visa to the US, but sneaked across the border and settled in Hollywood

Replaced Cyd Charisse on the Australian and New Zealand tour of the stage musical revival of "No, No Nanette"

Reprised her role as Lily Munster for the feature film, "Munster, Go Home"

After failure of "The Desert Hawk" at the box office, Universal ended her exclusive contract and offered instead to star her in one film a year

TV series debut: played Lily Munster on the CBS horror-spoof sitcom, "The Munsters"

Husband's loss of a leg and his long convalescence led DeCarlo to seek out more acting work

First film as free-lancer, "Hotel Sahara"

First film to feature DeCarlo as more than an extra or in a bit part, "The Deerslayer", made while she was on loan to Republic Studios; played Wah-Tah, a Native American princess betrothed to Larry Parks

Last film for four years, "Timbuktu"

Enrolled in a dancing school by her mother at age six (date approximate)

Signed by Paramount to a standard $60/week new player's contract

First TV-movie, "The Girl on the Late, Late Show"

Appeared in several short subjects produced by the Soundies Music Corporation

Signed by Universal; became a star in the leading role of the hit film, "Salome, Where She Danced"

First non-US production, "The Captain's Paradise", a British comedy co-starring Alec Guiness and Celia Johnson

Played one of the starring roles on the NBC one-hour comedy playlet, "Backbone of America"

Returned to films in "McLintock"; played a supporting role and took below-the-title billing

Again reprised the role of Lily Munster for the TV-movie, "The Munsters' Revenge"

Did nightclub tour whose routines included parodies of some of her films; also did occasional TV work, but was semi-retired as she raised her family

Film acting debut, on loan-out to Columbia, "Harvard, Here I Come"; appeared mostly as an extra in a series of films at Paramount over the next two years

Won the title of Miss Venice Beach in a beauty contest; returned to Vancouver briefly in order to get legal visas for herself and her mother and then moved back to the Los Angeles area

Helped support herself and her mother at age 15 when she got a job dancing as part of a chorus at the Palomar Supper Club

Dropped by Paramount; last film there, "Bring on the Girls", in which she can be spotted in a small role as a hatcheck girl

Joined the St. Paul Anglican Church choir in order to develop a singing voice

Summary

A vibrant, full-bodied performer with a rich voice and a lushly sensuous if somewhat odd beauty, Yvonne DeCarlo achieved stardom in the 1940s in some of the more bizarre escapism of that era. During her heyday and later in character roles, she acted in remarkably few films that could be called first-class or even important. Given how campy many of her credits are, it is fitting that DeCarlo is best known, because of TV syndication, as the sensible but ghoulish Lily Munster on the silly if often funny horror spoof sitcom, "The Munsters" (CBS, 1964-66). As with many female stars of the 50s (Susan Hayward, Eleanor Parker, Anne Baxter) put into routine melodrama, she could give overblown performances; yet likability and talent were there, genuine feeling mixed with a flair for comedy that wasn't properly tapped often enough. The result was a career that, in its own way, lasted, such that when a fiftyish DeCarlo impressively belted out the showstopping "I'm Still Here" in the wonderful Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical, "Follies" (1971), all the poor roles she was given or had chosen to do seemed irrelevant, because the woman had a point.

Name

Role

Comments

Marie Middleton

Mother

was only 17 when her husband abandoned her with their baby daughter

Robert Morgan

Husband

married on November 21, 1955; father of Bruce and Michael Morgan; lost a leg during the making of "How the West Was Won" (1963); divorced in the mid-1970s